Sith's Oddyssey
by Simwise
Summary: This is the fictionalised story of my character from Star Wars: The Old Republic. Most of the plot and dialog will be my own creation however, I am pretty much just borrowing the settings. Anyone that has played the game will probably recognise various elements but I promise that a lot will be new and somewhat different from the game - this isn't just a rehash.


Korriban

Day 1

Pozza drew strength from her apprehension during the shuttle ride down to the surface of Korriban. There was no denying her fear, despite her isolated upbringing, since she could speak she had known she would go to the Sith Academy and curiosity had forced her to learn as much as she could about it.

'Better if I'd remained ignorant.' She thought bitterly.

The lurch of landing caught her off guard, 'so soon!' she thought as panic welled within her, then quickly schooling her face into perfect neutrality. Unnecessary since she was the only person on the shuttle and it was late night at this part of the planet.

Leaving the shuttle, she moved toward the small, port exitway and was greeted by a protocol droid. "State your name and purpose for landing." It said mechanically a second, more functional looking security droid began scanning her.

"I am Pozza from Paakuni, I believe I am expected at the Sith Academy."

"All students are expected here." The protocol droid replied blandly.

As it spoke, the Sec Droid rattled off statistics in Binary. Most prospective students wouldn't be expected to understand it, but Pozza had spent much of her eighteen years among droids and knew the language reasonably well.

[Race = Rattitaki. Gender = Female. Student status confirmed. Priortiy = 0.31 due to factors 1. Alien 2. Familial association. Recommendation = send to main facility immediately]

Pozza didn't let her understanding of this show, but was annoyed none the less. It seemed that to the academy she was just another alien and thus not to be respected, even by droids. Not unexpected, the Empire seemed had little regard for anything but Humans and Stih but she had hoped that her father's influence might have meant more. He was dead less than twelve days but had spent his entire life in loyal service to the Empire.

She looked away in case the Sec Droid had some of the more advanced emotion reading software. The shuttle was now prepping for it's return, presumably to the military transport. Pozza noticed a darker patch among the night shadows of the landing pad. The darkness moved toward the shuttle's lifting hatch/ramp as it was closing and, as it leapt to grab hold, resolved into the shape of a darkly dressed Twi'lek.

"Intruder!" Pozza shouted without thought and then, using the flash of anger she felt toward the Twi'lek, the frustration and resentment she felt toward the droids and the uncaring Empire, as well as the veritable dark lake of fear she felt at being here at all; she took all of these and focussed them toward the Twi'lek.

Pozza wasn't particularly strong in the force or well trained, but the raw power she commanded was more than enough to break the Twi'lek's grip and fling her several meters away from the shuttle. Pozza didn't even know how she did it but was well pleased with her efforts. Especially at the distressed cry that escaped the Twi'lek mouth as she fell to the plascrete landing pad.

Her smile evaporated though as the Twi'lek turned toward her and pulled out a blaster at her belt. Pozza dodged as two of the energized particle bolts raced toward her and was fortunate that the Twi'lek was forced to move and change targets as the Sec Droid began to return fire.

Unarmed, Pozza ran for cover as the fire fight ensued with the protocol droid joining in, it pulled a blaster from a secure plate in it's thigh. The Twi'lek dodged furiously, now firing more to suppress than to cause damage. She reached the edge of the pad just as the shuttle took off, blowing dust in all directions.

When the dust cleared, no sign of the Twi'lek remained. Both droids were near the edge of the platform and scanned, but to no avail. They returned moments later, Pozza was now standing casually and no longer hiding behind one of the building's support struts. "What was that all about?"

"Do not trouble yourself with it student." The protocol droid said, reholstering it's weapon. "You should proceed immediately to the main academy. Report to Intake Droid Ar Tee Bee Thirty Two when you arrive. It is four point seven kilometres to the west, but you will have to divert around several of the monuments within the Valley of the Dark Lords."

"How about some appreciation for stopping that Twi'lek?" Pozza didn't really expect anything, but what you don't ask for, you never got.

"Your assistance has been noted." The droid said. In other words, nothing.

"Here are your standard issue supplies and weapon." The supplies consisted of a plastic canteen containing a litre of water, two concentrated ration bars and a palm holomap with a built-in flash lamp. The weapon was less disappointing, it was a vibroblade, perhaps a little over 100cm from hilt to tip. It was every so slightly curved and wickedly pointed. The blade itself was some sort of ceramic but remarkably lightweight at about two kilograms total. Of course, this felt massive and cumbersome compared to Pozza's old Elec-Epee, the weapon she had trained endlessly with on the estate, but she should be able to use it. Supplies and weapon came attached to a harness which Pozza wasted little time putting on.

As she was doing this, the Sec Droid moved next to her and exuded a slim needle, poking it into her arm.

"Ahhh!" She exclaimed and reached for the sword over her back.

"For security identification purposes." The protocol droid quickly assured and Pozza let go of the hilt of her sword. She already had confirmation that the Sec Droid had a built-in blaster. Still, it had been a sneaky thing to do.

The protocol droid then led her through the building adjacent to the pad and down a ramp. "The Academy is that way, good luck to you mistress." It then turned and strode back up the ramp.

"Well this is turning out to be as bad as I feared." Pozza said softly to herself and consulted her holomap while switching on the light. "I'm here for 30 seconds and I'm already shot at and thrown out alone into the darkness at night. Still, I suppose it could be worse."

Twenty minutes later, it was worse. She'd covered maybe a quarter of the distance to the Academy as marked on her holo; but there were things around her. When she tried to catch them in her beam of light, they moved with lightning speed, but Pozza knew they were there . . . and getting closer.

Realising the futility in trying to see them, she reached out with her feelings, her fear funnelling the power of the force within her. She recoiled at first. They were horrid! Spiky with rough skin and far too many teeth. And they were hungry, very hungry and there were a lot of them, more than fifty and . . . they were attacking!

As she sensed them, Pozza leapt to her right toward the wall of the nearest ruin, simultaneously she drew and activated the vibroblade. The force assisted her leap, carrying her in a high arc. She landed ready as several of the sinuous creatures scuttled toward her with frightening speed.

Her first sweep, cut straight through one and bit deep into a second; the blade's hum increasing in pitch as it sliced through the skin and the slimy tendon beneath. The young Sith dodged a third, but more were already moving up, toothy maws at thigh level.

She killed two more and leapt again, this time to the left, keeping the wall at her back. Still they swarmed; literally running over each other to get at her. Pozza swang her blade in wide arcs, killing two or more on each occasion. There was little skill in her attacks, the vile things attacked without thought, charging straight toward her.

Yet there were so many that she had to move quickly to avoid them. One caught her on the foot as she leapt, the bite easily penetrating the soft shoe she wore. The pain was agonising as the tooth slid along one of her bones. This fuelled her anger though, and with that, her connection to the force.

She killed more and more of them, stabbing and slashing, dodging when she needed to. Jumping up and then kicking off the wall, Pozza slashed downwards, cleaving two of the monsters. Suddenly there were no more. She played the light in her left hand . . . when had she transferred it? . . . from side to side but only saw the dead and one feebly moving, wounded creature. She stabbed it and it died with a hiss, heavily leaning on her vibroblade as she did. She was exhausted and the bite to her foot was really starting to hurt.

Then she heard the whine of blaster fire behind her. Whirling suddenly, she lifted her blade and lost her footing when her left leg gave out. The blaster fire wasn't directed at her but was maybe 60 meters away. The target, which Pozza could only see in flashes, was another of the monsters; but this one was massive. Where the ones near her had reared up to hip hight at best, the beast being shot at was more than two meters high, the bolts arcing upward toward it's head.

As Pozza stood, she could see that the blaster bolts weren't having much effect on the beast. Her energy renewed, at least temporarily, Pozza ran toward the thing and was fortunate that the blaster fire distracted the creature. Pozza still couldn't see the shooter in the darkness, but was thankful that whoever it was keeping the thing occupied.

Pozza's first cut was a long but shallow slash across the things flank, she got another one in before the massive creature turned toward her. She was preparing a stab when the thing lunged, with it's full 300 kg bulk. She was knocked prone, the creatures clawed legs puncturing and pinning her left leg. The maw roared and rushed down at her. Reflexively, Pozza put up her left hand, one of it's far too many teeth sliced a painful groove across her palm; but her strength, hastily augmented as much as her terror, anger and pain could; held the maw centimetres from her face. This contests of strength and wills lasted for almost a full second before Pozza managed to thrust her sword into the breast of the creature, or at least what she thought of as it's breast. The creature roared, it's head lifting skyward, the sound reverberating in the darkness.

The bellow stopped suddenly though as Pozza twisted the blade through almost 90 degrees. For a second, the monstrous thing was silently transfixed, as if clenched, the only sound the sharp, humming whine of her vibroblade.

Then the creature toppled; pinning Pozza to the ground. The hilt of her sword jabbing painfully into her side as she strained to move. Even as she tried though, all strength seemed to leave her. She tried to call on the force through her anger but couldn't, feeling light headed, almost giddy.

She tried again, without any success and then turned to see if she could get any help, possibly from the person who had been shooting at the beast. Somehow Pozza wasn't surprised to see that it was the Twi'lek that she had encountered trying to sneak aboard the shuttle. And once again this Twi'lek was pointing a blaster at Pozza.

"Ahh, I don't mean to seem rude, but would you mind not pointing that at me right now? I did just save you from this thing and, uh, even if you don't like me very much, I'm not much of a threat to you at the moment. I can't even move."

The Twi'lek grimaced, marring her beautifully featured face. While frightened, Pozza inwardly grumped, 'why do all Twi'lek females in the galaxy looked stunning! Is it just to make us poor women of other species feel ugly?!'

"I should kill you for making me miss the shuttle!"

"Hey," Pozza temporized, "I probably saved your life. That shuttle was droid operated and they told me it wasn't going to be pressurized on the way back up. Just to make sure I didn't try going back myself."

"I don't believe you." The Twi'lek snarled.

"Why would I lie?"

"To save your life." She had a point, actually the droids operating the shuttle hadn't communicated with Pozza at all during the trip.

"Look," Pozza said, starting to panic more than a little, this Twi'lek looked deadly serious. "I definitely helped you with this thing. I didn't have to. So, the least you can do is get it off me and then we can each go our own way, alright? I won't bother you and you won't bother me."

"No." The Twi'lek replied simply, but at least put the blaster down. She sat and opened a small pouch at her waist.

"Why not?"

"Because, I want to loot your body. That sword is probably worth a bit in and I'm guessing you probably have a few other supplies." The Twi'lek said as she injected herself in the arm with a medijector that she produced from the pouch.

"But you won't be able to get the sword until you roll this thing off me. I've also got some food but it's crushed here on my left side so . . ." Pozza blinked as her head started to ache. She tried again to use her anger, her fear and embarrassment at the situation to summon the force, but she couldn't focus enough. Instead she felt weak and shakey, almost fevered.

The Twi'lek didn't look at her, but sat calmly, her own small lamp producing the only light while she checked the blast pistol that she picked back up. "The creature that you are currently under is a K'lor Slug. It's bite is highly venomous and I expect you'll be dead soon."

"What!" Pozza shouted, but suspected the Twi'lek was right. The burning pain from the bite in her palm had faded to a tingling numbness. Her right leg felt like it was frozen in ice and she couldn't move it despite that it wasn't trapped below the giant creature pinning her. She recalled that one of the smaller things had bitten her foot. But worst of all was the general feeling of weakness and disassociation, with it, she couldn't call on the force to help her in any way.

Panic began to overwhelm her, she struggled desperately to get out from under the thing, this K'lor Slug. "Please! Please help me. I'll help you, I'll give you anything. Everything I've got. I'm going to be a Sith, I can help you get off planet it you want."

The Twi'lek seemed almost sad. "No, you're going to die here. Another failed student. Many die here. Then I will take what you have and go."

Pozza screamed in frustration and fear, but even that couldn't give her the strength to get out. It all seemed so unfair. Her future had always seemed so bright. She was the only one in her family that could use the force. She'd had an adoptive father that loved her, a brother who was in Imperial Intelligence. This should have gone better.

Despite the pain and discomfort, Pozza slumped back after a few more minutes of struggle. Everything was fading and she could sense the venom travelling through her, chilling and numbing parts of her body as it went. She became resigned, knowing that she was going to die here in her first hours on Korriban. She came to accept it.

It was then that she felt something. Something not dissimilar to her connection to the force. She didn't normally have the presence of mind to notice it like this though. Normally she could only feel it when she was in the throws of some sort of passion. Anger, fear or even desire, but never when she was relaxed or calm.

Idly, and more as an experiment, she reached out and tried to grab something, her eye came to rest on the small pouch that the Twi'lek had pulled the medijector from. It wiggled for a second and Pozza applied more pressure. Suddenly the pouch ripped free and shot into Pozza's hand. Encouraged, but still not enthusiastic, Pozza quickly tried to lift the heavy creature that had her pinned to the ground and, much to her surprise, it shifted immediately under her push, rolling to the side.

The Twi'lek had simply stared in surprise as her medical pouch was ripped away, but as the corpse of the K'lor Slug shifted, she reacted by pointing her blaster at the downed Rattitaki.

With barely a thought and certainly none of the concern she normally required, Pozza pushed out her right arm toward the Twi'lek and channelled more of the force. She had never before pushed anything harder. The Twi'lek was flung high backwards into the darkness and could be heard tumbling down the rocky slope.

As excitement and hope combined within her, Pozza's connection to the force vanished. One handed, she fumbled with the medical pouch, painfully attempting to get the medijector out and, not even checking the dosage, quickly plunged the device into her neck, triggered it.

She then rested and was quickly rewarded with a painful tingling running through her limbs and a renewal of the now reinvigorated headache. She revelled in it suspecting that it meant that she wasn't dying.

Several minutes later she was able to stand and look around. There was no sign of the Twi'lek, or anymore K'lor Slugs; in fact the only sound was the wind softly blowing sand and grit.

It took a long time for Pozza to remove the sword from the dead K'lor Slug and she suspected that it was probably bent a little out of true. But it still hummed when activated, and that would do, at least until she could get to the Academy.

That didn't happen until hours later. As dawn brought light to the desolate landscape, Pozza limped painfully up to the main stairs leading to the pyramid of the Sith Academy. Her clothing was ripped in several places and dried blood decorated her from multiple minor wounds. The cut to her palm was probably the worst of them, although her bitten foot caused her the most problem getting here.

Several students and others were around at the early hour. They noticed her, but not one of them moved to help Pozza or even speak to her. They just watched as she moved past.

'Some welcome,' Pozza thought bitterly to herself as she started to mount the steps and look for the Intake Droid.


End file.
